Welcome to DBSTalk

Welcome to DBSTalk. Our community covers all aspects of video delivery solutions including: Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS), Cable Television, and Internet Protocol Television (IPTV). We also have forums to discuss popular television programs, home theater equipment, and internet streaming service providers. Members of our community include experts who can help you solve technical problems, industry professionals, company representatives, and novices who are here to learn.

Like most online communities you must register to view or post in our community. Sign-up is a free and simple process that requires minimal information. Be a part of our community by signing in or creating an account. The Digital Bit Stream starts here!

While on the roof removing my old antenna I had not used in ages for local's, my ladder fell off clipping the dish and breaking the east west dithering tool.

So I purchased a new dish and installed it myself. (retailer did not have my legacy LNB in stock at the time, they only had a single line SWM and I have a SWM 16)

Dish is plumb and I used a H25 for alignment. I had no problem finding 101/119 and getting them peaked (we all know the drill ). Then I moved on to getting 99c, 103ca and 103cb fine tuned and was very successful getting everything in the 90's except for a few transponders on 99c and 103cb reading in the mid to low 80's.

Well the new LNB came in yesterday, so I hooked it up. I now do not have a single transponder below 94-95 on any of the birds making no tweaks to the dish.

Of course, I was very proud of myself knowing I nailed my alignment.

But here is the questions...

What is considered perfection? Are 98-100's across the board possible? Would I only be feeding my ego by trying to do any better? I know I can be pretty anal about this type of stuff. Don't even get me started on WiFi signals in the house!

Get down off the ladder and go grab a beer.
What's you're reading are bit-error rates and it's very unlikely to get 100% everywhere.
Should you use a RF power meter, that measures true power, you would have had the beer hours ago.

While on the roof removing my old antenna I had not used in ages for local's, my ladder fell off clipping the dish and breaking the east west dithering tool.

So I purchased a new dish and installed it myself. (retailer did not have my legacy LNB in stock at the time, they only had a single line SWM and I have a SWM 16)

Dish is plumb and I used a H25 for alignment. I had no problem finding 101/119 and getting them peaked (we all know the drill ). Then I moved on to getting 99c, 103ca and 103cb fine tuned and was very successful getting everything in the 90's except for a few transponders on 99c and 103cb reading in the mid to low 80's.

Well the new LNB came in yesterday, so I hooked it up. I now do not have a single transponder below 94-95 on any of the birds making no tweaks to the dish.

Of course, I was very proud of myself knowing I nailed my alignment.

But here is the questions...

What is considered perfection? Are 98-100's across the board possible? Would I only be feeding my ego by trying to do any better? I know I can be pretty anal about this type of stuff. Don't even get me started on WiFi signals in the house!

Do you have 8-way splitters off the SWiM-16, and do you have unused ports that are terminated?If you could change to 4-ways, even if you needed to add a 2-way or two, you might get a stronger signal to the receivers.

Everyone here is welcome in Texas. After all, it is the center of the universe. And we could definitely use the water right now.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have begun our decent into Texas. Please follow the instructions of our crew and return your seats to an upright position and push your trays back to their original position. I would like to thank you for flying with us today..........we will be landing shortly............as soon as the Texas Air Force clears the field.............we are going to go around one time....they are still in the pattern...................what say we pass out some free airline bottles and just fly on over to N'Orleans where it rains and we can get some blackened fish?......If there are no objections I'll raise the wheels & flaps..........anybody care?..................Oh all right.........we will be landing in Dallas in three minutes"

We are getting some storms from what was Tropical Storm Emily trying to regenerate to the east of us.

I would love a bigger dish solution though!

Nah ...

Don't waste your effort or money. Rain fades are deep chasms in signal strength drop and unless you have something like the big 9, 11, etc. meter monster dishes used at the uplink stations, there isn't much you can do about rain fade by increasing dish size.

You stand a better chance combating Rain fade by looking to eliminate any unnecessary splitter losses on your installation as VOS advises.

Don't waste your effort or money. Rain fades are deep chasms in signal strength drop and unless you have something like the big 9, 11, etc. meter monster dishes used at the uplink stations, there isn't much you can do about rain fade by increasing dish size.

You stand a better chance combating Rain fade by looking to eliminate any unnecessary splitter losses on your installation as VOS advises.

Thanks guys.

DirecTV did the SWM install and I have not been in the attic to look at the work. I will go up and inspect it soon.

I am driving 13 tuners throuh 5 HR24's, 1 HR20 and 1 H25 so I am very curious as to how they split it out.

DirecTV did the SWM install and I have not been in the attic to look at the work. I will go up and inspect it soon.

I am driving 13 tuners throuh 5 HR24's, 1 HR20 and 1 H25 so I am very curious as to how they split it out.

Here is something you can do that will help your rig.

1. If the installer didn't mark each line........you can identify each line......disconnect them one at a time and see which set has no signal or use a toner.

2.If the installer didn't mount the splitters on a panel in a logical pattern.......mount the splitter (s) in a logical pattern. My fav is splitters (or multiswitches) on one side of the panel and service loops with identification on the other. Mark the panel with the same line identification.

3. If the installer did not mount your rig where it is lighted.........rig a light.

4. Know that people have died in FL attics doing this work...they get that hot.

Thirteen lines can be spaghetti. You can get away with a little ding in the tuning but just one loose fitting will drive you nuts. Any of the receivers connected to a land line?

Also, you might check the signal levels on all receivers. See which one drops out first in storms.

Do you have 8-way splitters off the SWiM-16, and do you have unused ports that are terminated?If you could change to 4-ways, even if you needed to add a 2-way or two, you might get a stronger signal to the receivers.